Home»Overton NV and Death Valley

In October and November I went on a 4000 mile trip to the southwest. The thrust of the trip was to attend another timelapse workshop held by my friend Ron Risman. The class was held at Overton, a small town on the north edge of Lake Mead in NV. Just a short drive away is the Valley of Fire State Park, the oldest state park in NV. The ancient red sandstone formations seem to be on fire when the sun sets. The park covers approximately 40,000 acres. The park is only open from sunrise to sunset. Only campers are allowed in the park after sunset. But Ron had the only permit that would allow the workshop to travel in the park at night so we had access to the entire park. After the workshop, I traveled a few more hours west to Death Valley, one of my favorite photography locations. When in the Valley I head into the remote Racetrack Playa, home of the moving rocks. The rocks large and small are moved by high winds once the playa becomes wet from rains. The hard packed desert playa becomes a skating rink for the rocks and move in the direction of the blowing winds. The approximate 30 mile drive to the playa from the main highway was the worst I and others had ever seen. If your vehicle breaks down in the playa it can cost thousands of dollars to be pulled out due to the remote area and since a tow truck will come from over 120 miles away. Additionally if you do break down, and since there is no cell phone coverage, you will have to wait for another vehicle to come into the playa. My jeep battery died while I was in Death Valley. I had returned in the evening from the playa and the next morning my jeep would not start. I got a jump then drove 80 miles to Pahrump NV to get the system checked and purchase a new battery. Pahrump was the closest city that had batteries. Luckily the battery did not go dead at the playa. Photos included are from the workshop, the Racetrack, Titus Canyon, Skidoo CA, beehive kilns used to make charcoal for the mines and the ghost town of Rhyolite NV. Also included is a low resolution video of a time lapse from NV...The photo location was north of Las Vegas, thus all the plane traffic overhead. Enjoy